


A Second Chance at Revolution

by EnterTheTao



Category: Avatar (TV), Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 02:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2371799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnterTheTao/pseuds/EnterTheTao
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zaheer waits in prison, doomed to quiet (but enlightened) introspection. He is held without even access to the spirit world, alone for the rest of days. Or for three years at least, until a familiar face comes to see him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second Chance at Revolution

To be enlightened is not to be without desire. It is to be untethered. The two are distinct. To be enlightened is not to be unfeeling. It is to be untethered. The two are distinct. To be enlightened is not to be peaceable. It is to be untethered. The two are distinct.  
  
Many an Air Nomad has been led astray by the belief that enlightenment meant ceasing to desire anything; this was not true. Even the great Guru Laghima had wants. No one, no matter how dedicated, could truly leave desire. To work toward enlightenment, after all, requires one to "want" it. It was the negative desires of this world that tethered people to suffering. Desires that are preceded by expectation. The desire for love. The desire for wealth. Attachment to these and all other temporary things (including life itself) always produces negative outcomes, given enough time. And the cycle of reincarnation ensured there was always enough time.  
  
For Zaheer, thirteen years of meditation and soul-searching had been enough time. Back then he was merely imprisoned. With escape, he had become free from prison but still chained to the earth. For a brief while, he was merely free. Now he he existed as both free from attachments and again imprisoned. Life had a funny way of working in patterns.  
  
The prison Zaheer had been brought to was, with the removal of Wan Shi Tong's library, far older than any other building still standing in the physical world. Its very existence was legendary; even the Red Lotus, seeded deep as it was in world governments and organizations, had never found conclusive evidence of its existence. To imagine that the White Lotus had found it and kept it secret momentarily impressed Zaheer when he was first brought there. He knew it from stories as the Temple of Jinsi, a place where apparently no spirit could enter.  
  
Meditation as Zaheer originally knew it quickly proved different in this new prison. There was no connection to the outside, nor could he enter the spirit world. It seemed the temple was a void in the spiritual patchwork of reality, given only physical form and insulating all within. Zaheer had read theories about the temple, with most speculating that it was created by an ancient spirit looking to establish a home for the first humans, who ran the risk of being hurt or killed by the spirits. Whatever its origin, the White Lotus had picked the perfect prison for Zaheer. It seemed that he would be left to meditate to himself for the rest of his life, never again to see even the sun.  
  
But he was still enlightened. And time passed differently for an enlightened being. Days, months, and years went by, and nothing changed, even as he lost track of time altogether. Zaheer had chuckled to himself as this became evident; it seemed enlightenment was the only constant in a world where attaining enlightenment meant realizing the impermanence of all things. There was a lot of small laughs in prison, especially when one has so much thought. Yet, even through all this, Zaheer remained single-minded. He could only feel his genuine love for the people of this world, forced to suffer without freedom from oppression.  
  
After all, to be enlightened is not to be without love. It is to be untethered.  
  
Though his love for P'Li had restricted him before, Zaheer's love for the people was different; it did not depend on expectation. It was unconditional. As such, they often dominated his thoughts. He wondered about all of the world, but especially those in the Earth Kingdom, contemplating on whether the other nations and warlords within the kingdom had destroyed the beautiful chaos he had set in motion. For three years, he had only speculation and theories about these people. That is, until she came.  
  
"To think you had come to visit me. I would never have expected it," Zaheer said. He felt the impulse to stand up and greet his guest, but metal chains (not unlike the ones he had put Korra in) restricted his movements. His visitor did not immediately reply, instead waiting for the White Lotus to close the doors to the temple before speaking.  
  
"I don't have time to play games with you," she replied, adding a sneered emphasis on every syllable. Her voice and appearance had changed greatly since their climactic battle, but he recognized it with ease. For the first time in three years, he smiled with no ironic chuckle in sight.

"Then why are you here, _Avatar_ Korra?" he asked, adding a special tone to her title. As he spoke, he worked against his chains with surprising strength, causing Korra to quickly enter a fighting stance. "Please, Korra. You see my chains. I only wish to give you a proper greeting. It's not so often that a lowly prisoner is visited by what the future generations may very well know as the _Last Ava-_ " Zaheer was suddenly interrupted by two giant flashes of fire just barely missing his face on each side, Korra's fists extended directly next to his ears.

"I. Don't. Have. Time," she repeated, clearly holding in her anger. Her facial expression magnified it all, with her gritted teeth taking prominence. Zaheer only shrugged.

"Then why are you here, Korra?" he asked, dropping the pretenses of mocking respect and formality. His tone shifted entirely; he could feel the past with his very presence, and his voice reflected it.

"The Earth Kingdom is in shambles. And it's thanks to you," she answered, still in obvious rage. Zaheer did not react to this, nor did he reply. The young Avatar quickly became frustrated with his lack of reply and pointed her open palm directly at Zaheer's face. "Well!?" she asked, raising her voice threateningly.

"The Earth Kingdom _was_ in shambles. Why would you bring me such old news?" he asked, his tone quizzical but his face devoid of any emotion. Surely he had a point; the Earth Kingdom had fallen into chaos before Zaheer's capture. Why bring it up now?

"I guess you're right." Korra dropped her arms and finally lost her angered expression, looking defeated more than anything. As soon as Zaheer took note of the latter, it seemed her gritted teeth came back with a force. "But now it's worse! Now the Earth Kingdom is being ruled by a tyrannical dictator, far worse than the Earth Queen ever was! And she looks poised to try and rule the entire world!" Still, Zaheer's expression did not change. Although he thought on a deeper level of the people's suffering, his immediate thoughts still surrounded _why_ exactly the Avatar would see fit to bring this to him. Finally, after a solid minute of silence, Korra unleashed fury on Zaheer, punching his face in with all her might, while the man only sat in silence.

Between each impact, she also let loose her verbal beating on Zaheer. "This-!" His left cheek met a jab. "Only happened because-!" A swift uppercut finally unhinged his facial expression. "You killed the Earth Queen!" She punctuated this final statement with a barrage of punches, leaving Zaheer's entire face pained and bruised. Still, Zaheer kept his calm expression, finally replying to Korra.

"I have spent a very long time as an enlightened being here. These emotional methods are futile. As are your attempts to absolve yourself of responsibility," he said, finally (and painfully) changing his emotionless face to a deep grin. Korra's angered expression quickly changed to a more resigned one, only for Zaheer to suddenly inhale deeply and release a powerful gust of air from the subsequent exhalation, causing Korra to fly across the room, hitting the walls of the temple with a very audible slam. Completely taken by surprise, she gasped as he levitated from the ground; Korra's powerful fire blasts had weakened his chains.

"Zaheer!!" she yelled, more angry than she had been earlier. She released blast after blast of fire, only for the now unchained and flying Zaheer to easily dodge in the grand sanctum of the temple. He quickly rushed at her from above, prompting Korra to release an intensely powerful bolt of flame directly at him. Foreseeing the move, he dodged at the last second, causing the fire to break through the temple ceiling. Within an instant, Korra's expression went from angry to terrified.

"Don't worry, Korra. I know why you really came. You wanted advice. Simply put, my advice is as follows: solve this problem soon, or I will myself. And when I do, you can be certain that we will meet again," he shouted to her. Within moments of hearing his statement, Korra readied another shot of fire at him, prompting Zaheer to fly away. Within minutes of his escape, he heard the crumbling of ancient stone, no doubt due to the Avatar's frustration.

 _"And next time, I will not underestimate you,"_ he thought to himself, the wind whipping against his face.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> For now, this work is only one chapter. I might expand it to a series if this proves to hold up well enough. Anyway, thanks for reading! I really worked hard on preserving (Theravada) Buddhist thought on enlightenment in this, so I hope it shows, heh.
> 
> Also, the original premise of this is based on a working theory that one of the scenes in the Book 4 trailer depicts the compound Zaheer is being held in (it's an Earthy-structure with OWL guards outside).


End file.
